What Makes an Online Casino Safe and Secure?

Gambling online should always be exciting and enjoyable. But nothing kills the buzz more than worrying about whether your online casino is safe and secure. It’s not like signing up for a newsletter – when you create an online casino account, you’re handing over your personal details, your bank details, and even your cash, so it’s essential you have full trust in the casino you’re dealing with.

To compound these concerns, not all casinos are what they’re cracked up to be. At their very worst, some are bordering on criminal, rigging their games or otherwise causing problems for honest players who just want to gamble and withdraw their winnings.

Choosing a good secure online casino to facilitate your gambling is therefore essential, and finding a safe and reliable operator is paramount to your success. But how can you gauge whether an online casino meets these minimum criteria? Reading online casino reviews from reputable web portals is always a good method to find an independent overview of a casino, however here are the main factors you should take into consideration.

Regulation and Licensing

You should never sign up to play through an online casino that isn’t licensed and regulated by a third party. This might sound basic, but you can’t take it for granted. Casinos are generally required by law to submit to the regulation of the relevant authority in their home jurisdiction. For many casinos operating in the UK, that’s not necessarily the Gambling Commission – many are registered in Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Malta, Cyprus and a range of other jurisdictions. The issue of concern is generally not who is regulating a given casino, but more than they are licensed to operate and regulated by one of these authorities.

Licensed casinos have to operator within the law, on pain of losing their license to trade if they fail to comply. This is a big motivator for casinos to remain within the law at all times, which generally translates into fair gaming, and a secure platform that respects the rights of customers. It should go without saying that this is the first issue on your checklist, and one of the main requirements before choosing a casino to gamble through.

Secure Payment Methods

Once you’ve established that a casino is a licensed outfit, with the required legal permission to operate, you’re only part of the way to making sure it’s fully safe and secure. Payments are a major part of the process, both to and from your account and the casino, and like any online transaction, you need to make sure your details are fully protected. Different casinos accept their own selection of payment methods, and you need to be able to deposit through a method you trust as safe and secure for your own peace of mind. Be sure to review the deposit methods available, as well as the process for withdrawing payments, to make sure everything is as secure as it can be.

The same applies to SSL encryption, essential whenever you are submitting payment information online. Make sure your casino operates to the highest security standards to safeguard your sensitive personal information from hacking, theft and other problems.

Reputation

Reputation speaks volumes in the online gambling industry. Have you heard of a casino before, or are you just coming across it for the first time? If you haven’t heard of a casino before, how can you be sure it’s a legitimate operator? Casinos with a recognisable name and a good reputation have got to where they are on merit – through providing a high quality gambling experience, often across a number of years, and across countless thousands of other gamblers.

It’s often better from a safety and security perspective to align yourself with those casinos who have already established their name in the market. At least this way, you know there is some degree of accountability. By signing up with a brand you recognise and trust, you’re treading the same path as thousands of gamblers before you, so you know you’re at least dealing with a respectable casino operator from a safety and security perspective.

Trust Marks

It’s not just regulation and licensing that matters – ideally, your casino should also be aligned with other industry bodies. eCOGRA and the EGBA are a good starting point, demonstrating a casino that is going above and beyond their licensing requirements to adhere to fair practices and a transparent service to their customers. It’s all about building up a picture of trust that gives you peace of mind, so you can gamble without worrying whether your data and money is in safe hands.

Not every casino is as safe and as secure as they should be. But by following this checklist when scouting your options, it’s possible to give yourself a fighting chance of finding a casino that is as secure as you’d like, and fully safe for processing your online gambling and account transactions.